Key Tokyo rubber futures closed slightly higher on Tuesday, helped by a slowdown in the yen's appreciation, but trading remained thin due to the summer holiday season and uncertainties over the outlook for the Japanese currency. The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange for January delivery inched up 1.8 yen, or 0.6 percent, to settle at 281.8 yen per kg.
Trading has remained range-bound since May staying between 288 yen and 251 yen, with the yen's strength has capping the upside, traders said. A fall in the Tokyo stock market has also clouded the outlook for commodities markets, they said. The dollar hovered near a 15-year low against the yen on Tuesday, weighed down by a slide in US Treasury yields, putting the focus on whether Japanese authorities will take any measures to curb the yen's rise. The price of oil was steady near a one-month low on Tuesday on signs of a withering global economic recovery, following disappointing data from the United States and Japan, the world's largest and third-largest oil consumers.